Looking for more blogging fun? Come visit Danyelle’s Queen of the Clan blog, where she’ll be writing about raising four boisterous kids, being a stay-at-home mama, writing, and how in the world she finds time to do it all!
Posted by: Danyelle | 03-27-2008 | 12:03 PM
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Looking for help with your manuscript? Need your book reviewed? Be sure to check out the Ferguson Authors Editing and Review Services link off to the right for more info!
Posted by: Danyelle | 10-11-2007 | 10:10 PM
Posted in: What's Happening | Comments (3)
Aside from the Storymakers post, I haven’t posted here since just before the Thanksgiving holiday. If you haven’t been reading my Queen of the Clan blog, let me give you an update on what’s happening with the Ferguson Clan.
So far, 2009 has been quite a busy and hectic year for us.
At the end of 2008 (just before Christmas) our son was admitted to Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City. We discovered he had what we thought at the time were masses growing in his lung. In February, we returned for lung surgery and discovered they weren’t masses growing inside his lung, but adhesions growing from the outside of his lung down to his diaphragm. The surgery went quite well and today, he’s just fabulous and back to his very energetic self.
John had a not-so-minor fall in April, resulting in our very first ambulance ride for either of us, lots of stitches, and a dang good concussion. He’s just starting to feel better. I can quite honestly say I’m tired of hospitals and hoping there will be no more visits in our near future.
Everyone else is doing quite well. We’ve traveled a bit - once to Nauvoo, Illinois for spring break, then in April to Utah for the LDS Storymakers Writers Conference.
As for writing, Teaching Special Spirits has been making it’s rounds with the publishers. Deseret Book was very interested and spent quite a bit of time debating before finally deciding not to accept it. Cedar Fort, Inc. asked about making it an e-book, but that wasn’t quite the route we wanted to go. Currently, Covenant Communications is evaluating it. It’s been ten months since we finished TSS and it’s been quite a growing experience to follow it’s journey.
In April, I won three awards in the LDS Storymakers First Chapter contest - 2nd place in Women’s Fiction, 1st & 2nd place in Non-Fiction. It was very humbling and exciting at the same time.
I’ve also been editing quite a few manuscripts these past few months. Many of them have been people getting ready for pitch sessions with editors or who have recently been bit by the writing bug and want to polish up their manuscripts. It’s been such fun to give feedback and watch each of them grow. I’m currently editing a manuscript by Michelle Jefferies and have two more manuscripts in line. Editing and critiquing has been one of my favorite parts of being a writer.
Currently, I’m trying to decide what to work on next. I’d love to work on my fiction projects, but I keep getting these non-fiction book ideas popping into my head. It’s so hard to decide! I need to spend a few more days going through outlines and of course, praying for direction. My co-author for Lost: One Sheep (which took 1st place in Non-Fiction) is working on another project until August. At that time, we’ll begin organizing and writing that project. So I just need to fill May, June, July, and half of August up with another project.
I hope you are all doing well. Please stop by my blog and visit me!
Posted by: Danyelle | 05-14-2009 | 12:05 PM
Posted in: Danyelle | Busy Being Mom! | What's Happening | Writing Chronicles | Writing Awards | Writing Contests | FA Editing & Review Services | Editing Services | Comments (0)
This year’s Storymakers conference was once again phenomenal. Awesome classes, friendly authors, and fun, fun, fun! I enjoyed and soaked up every single minute! For pics and more details from the conference, check out this post on my Queen of the Clan blog.
Each year, the Storymakers hold a First Chapter contest. Here are this year’s results:
HISTORICAL FICTION
1st Place - “Repentence” Terry Montague
2nd place – “Fisherman’s Daughter” by Melinda Sanchez
3rd place – “Girl from Gurian” by Jewel Adams
GENERAL FICTION
1st Place - “Dance the Ghost (With Me)” by David West
2nd place – “Funeral Procession” by Linda Peterson
3rd place – “The All New George McDonald” by Don Carey
NON-FICTION
1st Place - “Lost: One Sheep” by Danyelle Ferguson & Heather Justesen
2nd place – “Teaching Special Spirits” by Danyelle Ferguson
3rd place – “Welcome to the Motherhood” by Cindy Williams
MYSTERY / SUSPENSE
1st Place - “Where Safety Lies” by Frank Holdaway
2nd Place - “Sign of the Owl” by Kathleen Perrin
3rd place – “The Neighbor” by Susan Tietjen
SCI-FI / FANTASY
1st Place - “Space Corp General” Don Carey
2nd Place - “Fairy Dust” by Tina Scott
3rd Place - “Stone Still” by Laura Taggart
4th Place - “Natura” by Jennifer Jenkins
ROMANCE / WOMEN’S FICTION
1st Place - “Wind Song” by Rachelle Christensen
2nd Place - “Take Back the Night” by Danyelle Ferguson
3rd Place - “Tess” by Terry Montague
4th Place - “Butter Diggers” by D. D. Hunt
YOUTH FICTION
1st Place - “Lunaratus”
2nd Place - “Danny the Undead”
3rd Place - “Fields” by Jennifer Jenkins
4th Place - “Dragon Unchained” by Susan Tietjen
5th Place - “Matched” by Allyson Condie
GRAND PRIZE WINNER
“Newtimber” by Karen Hoover
Karen won an Alphasmart Neo & Content Edit
SUPER GRAND PRIZE
“Sonya Silent” by Rebecca Birkin
Rebecca won an Amazon Kindle II
Posted by: Danyelle | 05-01-2009 | 11:05 AM
Posted in: Danyelle | Writing Chronicles | Authors Incognito | Writing Awards | Writing Contests | Writers Conferences | Comments (0)
Don’t let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It’s your place in the world; it’s your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live.
- Mae Jemison
A simple hug can convey more affection, movre sympathy, more comfort, more excitement than a sentence, a paragraph, or an entire novel of words ever could.
- Amanda Ford
You have to do what you love to do . . . Life is not a dress rehearsal. This is it.
-Lucinda Basset
We are never happy until we learn to laugh at ourselves.
- Dorothy Dix
Friendship is certainly the finest balm for the pangs of disappointed love.
- Jane Austen
Never assume anything. Bite your tongue when you need to, and wait until you have all the information you need to make a decision, whatever it is.
- Willa Rouhana
All children are musicians; all children are artists. Play is work for them that constantly extends their limits - it is a most vital creative function. If we can make it rich, the best that is human will flourish within the child.
- Susan Castro
Think for a moment about your workspace. Is there enough light, enough privacy? Does it feel like your personal space? Or like an impersonal territory you’re occupying for the duration? Is it clean and orderly? Cluttered and random? Remember: if you aren’t comfortable in your workspace, how can you do your best work?
- Marcia Menter
Posted by: Danyelle | 11-02-2008 | 03:11 PM
Posted in: Quotes to Remember | Comments (0)
Hi everyone!
I know many of you have been coming to my Queen of the Clan blog. I’ve enjoyed “seeing” you all there - and especially love your comments!
Here’s a quick update from the FergusonAuthors:
John is working on his Dreamers book. It’s a young adult fantasy novel. He has the outline finished and several chapters. I love watching him come up with plot ideas. He’s so creative! Sometimes I wonder, how in the world did you come up with that idea? I think it’s interesting to watch a novel come to life through another’s imagination other than my own.
At the end of August, my co-author and I finished and submitted our book, Teaching Special Spirits, to Lisa Mangum at Deseret Book. Yeah! We are now in waiting mode for that project. I’ll be sure to let you know when we hear back.
I’m now working on two projects. One is my romantic suspense novel, Rebound, which took 3rd place at the 2008 Storymakers conference. My other project is another non-fiction book, this time about how to be a member missionary. I’m co-authoring this book with my fabulous friend, Heather Justesen. We’re still bopping around title ideas - but so far we either like “Lost: One Sheep“ or “Shepherds Wanted: Apply Within“ Ironically, my hubby came up with both of those titles. What do you think?
In September, I finished a full manuscript review for Daron Fraley. You may remember his name. I mentioned him in another post after I finished a review of his first thirty pages. I’m very excited about Daron’s manuscript. It has an excellent and unusual storyline. Daron is a very talented storyteller. I expect to see it on bookshelves in the near future.
Well, my friends, that’s about all for now. Have a fabulous day & see you all over on the QOTC blog!
Posted by: Danyelle | 10-02-2008 | 12:10 PM
Posted in: Danyelle | John | Writing Chronicles | Editing Services | Comments (0)
Last month, I worked on the first thirty pages of a manuscript written by Daron D. Fraley. He recently wrote a post on his blog about his experience. You can check it out here.
Posted by: Danyelle | 07-14-2008 | 12:07 PM
Posted in: Danyelle | FA Editing & Review Services | Comments (0)
When your thoughts, your emotions, and your physical self are all on the same track, then there is nothing to stop you from getting all that you want.
- Hailey D.D. Klein
Sweets are good for the nerves.
- Margarete Bieber
Never judge someone by who he’s in love with; judge him by his friends. People fallin love with the most appalling people. Take a cool, appraising glance at his pals.
- Cynthia Heimel
Give yourself the option of changing your mind. The world won’t come to an end.
- Eleanor Wiley
Oh, never mind the fashion. When one has a style of one’s own, it is always twenty times better.
- Margaret Oliphant
Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.
- Anne Sexton
True wealth can not be found in your bank account. It can only be found in those you call friends. Those with whom you share your deepest feelings. And those who accept you for who you really are.
- Mary Vandergrift
The reward for conformity is everyone likes you but yourself.
- Rita Mae Brown
All serious daring starts from within.
- Joan Baez
Do as much as you can and take it easy.
- Jara Julku
Laughter attracts laughter. Share the funniest thing you heard today.
- Mina Parker
Early in my career, I felt that organization would destry my creativitiy. Whereas now I feel the opposite. Discipline is the concrete that allows you to be creative.
- Verna Gibson
Remember we are human beings, not human doings. Our heart and soul shine through when we let passion and purpose lead our lives.
- Lisa Hammond
Friendship for women can take different forms. I can run like a river, quietly and sustainingly through life; it can be an intermittent, sometime thing; or it can explode like a meteor, altering the atmostphere so that nothing ever feels or looks the same again.
- Mary Haskell
Ask for what you want. Do not assume you have to must “make do” with a second choice.
- Mary Anne Radmacher
For there is no friend like a sister, in calm or stormy weather, to cheer one on the tedious way, to fetch one if one goes astray, to lift one if one totters down, to strengthen whilst one stands.
- Christina Rossetti
Don’t complain, create!
-Michaelene Cristini Risley
Everyone woman has the right to be beautiful.
- Elizabeth Arden
When I choose a friend - I choose one who loves truth, who respects life and me, one who hears music and sees the moon, one who loves to see me smiling.
- Laura Merz
Creativity is inventing, experimenting, growing, taking risks, breaking rules, making mistakes, and having fun.
- Mary Lou Cook
If I had my life to live over, I’d like to make more mistakes next time. I’d relax. I would limber up. I would be sillier than I have been this trip.
- Nadine Stair
What my mother believed about cooking is tha tif you worked hard and prospered, someone else would do it for you.
- Nora Ephron
Take a day off and turn that wonderful nurturing power you possess toward someone who deeply needs it: You!
- Jennifer Louden
May your walls know joy. May every room hold laughter and every window open to great possibility.
- Mary Anne Radmucher
Above all, remember that the most important thing you can take anywhere is not a Gucci bag or French-cut jeans; it’s an open mind.
- Gail Rubin Bereny
It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.
- Colette
Posted by: Danyelle | 07-14-2008 | 12:07 PM
Posted in: Danyelle | Quotes to Remember | Comments (0)
Hello everyone! If you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m posting most of my writing updates and life happenings on my blog, Queen of the Clan. I hop over here to check things out and try to keep everything updated. But please stop by QOTC if you’d like more consistent posts.
Life update: School’s out! Yeah! That last month of school (May) was super busy with talent shows, field trips, and so much more. But now it’s June and our family is totally enjoying summer. My older kids are taking some fun summer classes like art, creative writing (my seven year old wants to be a writer like Mommy and Daddy), sports, and swimming. It’s also that time of the year for scouting camps. We just finished Girl Scout camp and Cub Scout Day Camp is just around the corner. The younger kids are enjoying the backyard and some morning play groups.
Writing Update: Deseret Book is still interested in Teaching Special Spirits. I received an email from Lisa Mangum asking for more chapters, etc - which were mailed out ASAP, of course. 
Now my co-authors and I are just working our way through the outline and finishing up the book. The projected completion date is August 15th.
That’s all for now, folks. I hope you’re all having a fabulous summer!
Posted by: Danyelle | 06-11-2008 | 10:06 AM
Posted in: What's Happening | Writing Chronicles | Comments (0)
My good friend and amazing author, Jeffrey Savage, is coming to Kansas City. While we were emailing each other back and forth talking about getting together for dinner, I came up with a brilliant idea - a literacy night with Jeff! Wow! How awesome would that be?
My church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) is hosting the event on Thursday, May 8th at 7 pm. The address is 15915 W. 143rd St., Olathe, KS. There will be refreshments and an opportunity to visit with Jeff following the presentation.
Please join us for a night of learning and fun - and be sure to bring a friend or two!
Posted by: Danyelle | 04-28-2008 | 08:04 AM
Posted in: Meet An Author | Comments (0)
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